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Lorsque Je docoment est trop grsnd pour Atre reproduit en un soul clichA. 11 est filmA A partlr da I'engle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droita. et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre d'imeges nAcessaire. Les diagrammas suivants illustrent la mAthoda. 1 2 R VOICE OF PROPHECY; oM, ftnxpli^^ ItttfttleA anA Unfutfilbd: BXnra tub xi ?v 1 EXTENDED NOTES OF TWO mMONB 0BUTCBED IW ST. PAUUS. CATHEDKAL, lONDON, C.W., ON ADVJBNT SUNDAY, DEC. 2kd, 18«0, , 4 BI THE REV. JOHN atfcitK or Tn 'A3 g:' -'Ji :^«ffr ■ • . - 1 ' - PEBET. ••1 $nblu^tb bg ficqtusl. -f^g LONDON, C.W.: \ TAYLOR & WILSON, RICHMOND SI ;,. :yV^ '[■:'-■_ ' I860. . <•- ;.■'': :■*■■'■ ■J^ MH ^^lipt^K^'V^ f . J. McL. *i » - ■■ -LoKDON, C. W., December, 1860. . i ' ' • ••* " - ,■ ■ I " . • .- •- ■ ■ ■ ^• . * m>^ IL -- ■-.-_- ■—■ir- -' ■■ ' ; ..._-.._.. ... - \: „ ■■ • .■ i .'..,,. t ■■ - ■. ■' ■ ■"'' * / * im i^M ■ J A ..» .< «!|^-r;5)«.*^ keei TIO» ■4* \ ' iSf lE fl^y^ J ^ J'?5^'' "iij^m^iiiy 5j i A THE VOICE OF PR0PHE6Y. <♦ » ♦ ' *' I5»rt i. PROPHECY FULFILLED, " Blened ia he that readetb, and ihsy that hear the worda of ihia prophecy, and keep tboae thinga which are written therein; for the time ia at hand."— BktbI'A- noKS, i.8, " All Scripture," sayii the Apostle, " ia given by iuspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruci^oa in righteous' neas." Now, as tJie Book of Revelation is part of Scripture, and as there is no exception made to this declaration as to the study of any part of God's Word being destitute of profit, it follows that the same obligation rests upon US to make it the subject of our eaniest and prayerful study, as any oUier part of the Divine oracles. There is no doubt that for a very long period in the history of the church, littIe''or no attempt was made to interpret the prophe- cies contained in the Apocalypse, by applying the symbols used to the events that were taking place in the world. The public teachers of Christianity care- fully avoided all allusion to the contents of the book, and by the mass of pro- fessing Christians it came to be regarded as a part of'God's Word from which no instruction watf to be derived. But a great change has since taken place in the estimation in ^iMk^^'>iB prophetical part of Scripture is held. Maoj earnest-minded ChrisHHave turned ,their attention to its study, and, bring* 'vDR to bear ^pon it a vast amount of talent, learning and historicaUknowledge, live succeeded in giving a clear and pointed interpretation to by far the greater I of the prophecies contained in the whole work. That the Spirit of God ^intend^ the prophecies to be carefully studied is manifest, not only frpm the words of onr text, but from varioas other parts of the Book — take, for instance, Uie indications of the character of Antichrist given in the 1 3th chapter. You will there find many things mentioned that would seem to point undoubtedly to the Papacy, but, as if to make ossumnce doubly sure, and also to enccturage the •tudents of prophelj to peraftttere until they had found a complete and satis- factory aolutioiMdf^W 'probIen<^ Vibe following verse is addied: — "Hera it / I 1 1 •I Ai,ia;..,-.j.a^ * '' i. THIS VOICE Of PKOPHBOY. ,« <. « wudom* Let him that hath undent^ndinKCQUDt the aumber of the:l>eaat ; for it is the number of a man ^ and his number ia six hundred three score and six." Here you have the Spirit of God not only pern|itting, but positirely com- manding us to attempt defining who Antichrist is, and giving us, at the ■ame time^ every reason to hope that a diligent search will end in our being ■occeusful. I need not say that several solutions of this problem have been proposed, all marked by more or less ingenuity. You are a««i^ that in the Greek and Latin languages Uiey made use of the letters of the aTphabet to inditate numerical values, instead of figures, as is our custom, and it, is there- fore plain that the name of AntichrisT mustf lie ma^e up of a certain number of letters, who- e unitfed numerical value^ W6. Now, the Greek word IioUino; signifying Latin man, answers this conSi^on exactly ; for if you sum up the nnmerical value of its letteis, ybu have that numb^as the result. Need we say how accurately the title of Latin man applies to the head of the Papacy ! Yon know that his seaf is the capital of the Roman or Latin Empire. Thh whole service of his church is conducted in Latin ; the decrees of his councils, aild his own famous bulls, are written iirLatin ; while the very blessings that he^nvokes upon the heads of some of hi§ people, and th» curses that he launches against others, are conveyed in the same language. We believe this to be the real solution, sim{rd liOteinoi, u sum up the it. Need we the Papacy ! Impire. Thk his councils, >le8sings that t he launches I Papacy an- )tion given of the ^ord of )11. ts of the pro- ; readeth, and :learly to the if' predictions riod when St, ent of Christ, discourse will lave, first, to «ady received tever infonna- rents in which ttempt to-give We have, as g Lectunbs for rome months past in bringing out the details of each particular ease ; luid, as this is Advent Sunday— a day on which our Church especially directs our at- tention to the cii^nmstances attending the close of the present dispensation, and the second advent of, Christ— subjects that form' the culminating point' of* the'whole of .the prophecies contained in the Book of Itevelation— we believe that a general Outline of the contents of the'book will tend both to give in- Btructiop, and to deepen the impressions that so solemn a subject as thfe second advent is fitted to produce upon the mind. The symbols employed in 4ljp vision are, as you will remember, the seven seals of a book thft^ was heW in the hand olfHim that sat upon:>he throne. It is the opening of the seals irf succession that forms the si^^u^ for the in- " troduction of ^e various visions recorded by St. John— and yon will observe something very remarkable in their ordei. ^he first six seals ate brokeig|tfi which six separate visions appear ; on the breaking of the seventh seal, instead of one visioA, we have preparation made for seven in succession, to, be intro- duced by the sounding of as. many trumpets. The trumpets sound, ^nd the ^me peculiarity appears in the arrangement of the visions they introduce : the sounding of the first six indicate as many distinct appearance to the seer, but the sounding «f the seventh introduces feven angels, each hoUing a vial containing the wrath of God, which is to be poured out upon the worid. You will thus observe that there are in, alF twenty-one symbols used, each one mark- ing some particular event of ^at importance taking place in the worjd. In the opening of thefirst four seals there is a'Vemarkable similarity in the * symbols., In^^ll of them a rider is seen mounted upon a horse — the color of the hQjae-4»ing different in each case. Now, it is a well-known fa the capitation, and the heavy contributions of com, wine, oil and meat, which were exacjed from the provinces for the use of the court, the army and the , capital." ■-.,;■, *:■ .. . .'. ,«Tht fourth seal is now opened—chap, vi, 7, 8—-" And behold « pale rated histo- 1 Empire/' Rome com- ionof qau- blic admin' in, Adrian eding chap- nurds, from cnmstances and is still •ribed thud, I power was that they il." Mark iven to the mbol cpiild ing profane B of bloody ydva, in the »r 90 years- m'sedition. loy a black id. And I irheatfor a ttrtbot the d upon the tolandtax) rwat, which my and the alii « pale . -T^^fp^^ . \ I. / «> THE OPBNINQ OP TH.B 8KALS. horse ; and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followefd with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, and* with hunger, and with death, and with the beaals of the earth."— Hell, or " Hades," her* means the abode of the dead— andin the whole sym- bol you have a^werful description of the misfortunes that befel the Roman Empire in the third century. Death and the grave, and the power to kill with the sword, vividly depicts the slaughter ocsasioncd by the first eruption of the Goths. «< The Emperor Decius," says Gibbon, "had employed a few months in the work of peace and the administration of justice, when he was summoned to the banks of the Dani^ by thje invasion of the Ooths.— This is the first considerable" occ4)>iop in which history mentions that great people, who aftmvards broke J^ Roman power, sacked the Capitol, and reigned in Gaiil, Spain and Ita^lFSo memorable was the part which they acted in the snbvera^n of the Western Empire, that the name of Goths is frequently but im^operly used as a general appellation of mde and warlike barbarism." (" Declineiind Fall," vol. i. page 281.)' Within the same period of time (a.d. 248 to 2^^ wefind^ by reference to the same author, that the " killing with sword an^'with hunger and with death," alluded to in the vision, received a most remarkable fulfilment. In pages .328 and .329 of vol, I., he says : " Our habits of thinking so fondly connect the order of the universe with the fate of man, that this gloomy period of history has been decorated>it^ inundations, earthquakes, uncommon meteora, preternatural darkness, and a crowd of prodigies, fictitious /Or exaggerated. But a long and general famine was a calamity of a more serious kind. It wa» thp^ inevitable consequence' of rapine and oppression which extirpated the produce of the present and the hope of future harvests. Faming is almost always followed by epidemical diseases, ^theefiect of scanty and unwholesome food. Other causes must, however, have contributed to the furious plague, which, from the year 250 to the year 265, raged without interruption in every province, every city, and almost every family of the Roman Empire. During some time, five thousand persons died daily in Rome ; and many townsWt had escaped the hands of the barbarians were entirely depopulated." He also states, in page 329— « Applying this autheiitic fact (alluding to the figures of a register) to the most correct tables of mortality, it evidently proves that above half the people of Alexandria had perished, and could we venture to extend the analogy to the other provinces, we might suspect that war, pestilence ^and famine, had consumed, in a few years, the moiety of the human species." - Now, remember thatQibbon was the enemy and not the friend of the Chris- tian religion, and cannot therefore be suspected of writing in such a way as Jt 8 :t v"- ■//■.. ■•:• -^ 10 THE VOICE OP PEOPHBOT. •1 ^ to fsTor the jnterpTetaUon of the prophecies ; a^d yet, if yOU compare the. prophecy in qnestion with the above remarks, you mnst at once see the ex- aiBtness with which the "killing with sword, and with hunger, and with death," waa carried out in the actual experience of the Roman Empire. The opening of the fifth seal is thus described— chap. vi. 9-11— "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held : and they cried with a loud voice, saying. How long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto eveiy one of them, and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servanti also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." History points to a terrible fulfilment of this part of the vision. You Lave all, no doubt, read of the persecution of the Christians by the Pagan emperors, and more especially the last and most violent of all — that under Dio- cletian. The most fearful tortures were applied to the unfortunate Christians who fell into thei hands of their enemies; some were scourged with merciless severity, others wej« stretched upon the rack, roasted over slow fires, or laid in red hot beds of iron until death put a period to their suflerings, while some were torn in pieces by wild beaste. The »ixth seal is now opened— chap. vi. 12-17— "And lo, there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and «very moun- iain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the eartl), and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and. in the rocks of the mountains; and sud to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hi je us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wiath of the Lamb ; for the great day of His wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand?" If we keep in view that about the time answering in the ' order of evento to the opening of this seal, the enormous hord^ of Ooths and Vandals were ponring down from the north to concentrate themselves^on the iJjorders of the Bomui empire, preparatory to the incursions that finally settled^ its rain, we will have no difficulty in seeing the appropriateness of the sym- bols uM to denote the terror and dismay of the civilised world. The nuniber of these barbarians was in reality great, bntieport would magnify it to c6ffi>t- leas tbonaaDdB; thnr bravery, their ferodty and detemuned chamcter, the on- /^ m *THB BOiniDINO OP TUB TBUMPBTC. \\ compare the. see the ex- irith death," ull— « pets were given to as many angels, and the sounding of each trumpet intro- duced a separate vision. "The first angel sounded, and there followed bail and fire mingled With blood, and they were cast upon the earth ; and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up," Here yea have symbols plainly denoting the bloodshed and devastation of war ; and w« believe that the Gothic invasion of Italy under the far-famed Alaric, produced results so disastrous to the empiia as to be well represented by the vision. — The words of Gibbon would almost seem to be a commentary upon the ex- pressions, " hail and fire mingled with blood." Jn page 192, vol. iii." he says : " The troops which had been posted to defend the Straits of Thermopylae, re- tired, as they were directed, without attempting to distnrb the secure and rapid passage of Alaric ; and the fertile fields of Phocis and Bceotia were instantly covered by a deluge of bai^barians who massacred the males of an age to bear arms, and drove away the" beautiful females with the spoil and cattle of the flanung villages. The travellers who visited Greece several jean afterward* could easily discover the deep and bloody traces of the march of the Goths.'*^^ The second angel now sounds, '' And as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood. And the thiid part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died ; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." Here we have another emblem Of War and bloodshed ; and it is remarkable that while the qrmbols imder the first trumpet point to desolation upon the land, those that followed the sound- ing of the second seem to point more directly to disasters upion the sea. Now, on reference to history, we find that the next great invasion of the barbariiuis that shook the Roman empire after that of Alaric, was the one conducted by 'Genseric, at the head of ^he Vandals; and it is remarkable that this leader assailed the Roman power chiefly by «ea. In the spring of each year he equipped a fleet in the port of Carthage, and it is said that on one occasion his pilot asked him, before sailing, what course he should steer. "Leave the de-' terinin^tion to the winds," replied Genseric, " they will tomsport us to the guilty CM^t^-whrae inhabitants have provoked the Divine justice." The z^' :7^^ 12 THK VOICE or PROPBBOT. i . : i «i'> ■^ 80«nding of the third bnmpet iDtrodueessnewset ofsymbola. "there fell ar great Btar from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell apoa a third . partof the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. And the name of 'the, star is called Wormwood ; and the third part of the waters beeame wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter." The same principle pf interpretation we have already' pursued will enable us to fix upon Attila, kingof the Huns, as the scourge here indicated. His ravages in the Roman empire were next to those of Gensbric Tou will olM^rve tiiat the effect of the judgment indicated in the vision was felt on the " rivers and fonn* tains of waters." This is well exiSlained By the fact that the principal opera- tions of Attila were cenfined to the regions of the ^pe, and th(»e portions of the empire from which the rivers flow down into Italy. It may be useful to quote a remark of Mr. Gibbon's with reference to the effect of Attil&'s inva- sion. He says: " In the reign of Attila, the Huns agfuo became the terror of the-world, and I shall now describetthe character and actions of that formi- dable barbarian, who alternately insulted and invaded' the east and the west, and urged the rapid downfall of .the Roman empire" (page 386, vol. iii.)- The sounding of the fourth trumpet now takes place : " And the Uiird part of the sun was smitten, and the third pturt of the moon, and the thiid part of the stars, so as the third part of them wasda^kened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." The explanation of this ill easy^ if we admit that of th^ three . preceding visions. The Roman empire sqstaitaed a fourth invasion of barbarians under Odoacer, who finally became king of ^My, and put an end to ti>e Roman dominion in thje west. You will thus observ^ that the first four trumpets introduce as many distinct, 'and fekrful visions, iiulicatr ing woe and desolation^ the Roman empire— the last one, the darkening of the sun, moon and stars, well represenUpg its final overthrow ; and oiji con- sulting history for an explanation of these terrible signs, we ,find that tl^e em- pire actually desciended through four, successive ^ges of disaster, caused by- the invasion of Alari(^ GenSeric, Attila and Odoacer, until its destiny of final Tuin was effected bj the last of these barbarians ascending iho throne 1^ Italy ■ -. . J- .. . _ y^^ ^.^1^ as king. . '^ ' The fifth angel now sounded— chap. ix. 1 :— " And, J saw ai strtvfall.from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key of the bojytomwss pit." The 2nd and 3id verses state that smoke arose from this pit when o^ned, and out pf the smoke a flight of locusts; the 4tl^ 5th and 6^h verses de- scribe the mission 6f the locusts— to torment men for five months, but not to hurt vegetaUon; while the 7th to 10th verMS describe their (^peaiance as horses prepared for battle, Ac. No symbols codd ponibly "tlMrafen npoaa fhiid. ) name of 'the le wonnwood, " The aame 18 to fix apoD' avages in the lerve tiiatthe vers and fonn* incipal opera- le portions of J be useful to f Attil&'s inva- 3 the terror of of that formi- ; and the west, roLiii.)- The ird part of the kI partofthe lone not for a ii^easy^ ifwe re sqstaitaed a I king of ^My, an obeerv^ that isions, indicatr I darkening of ; and oiii coh- id that tl^e em- ter, caos^ by- destiny of final throne 1^ Italy \ -"^ ' ■ stMvfail from >JyU)m]lM8 pit." when o^ned, 6^h verses de- r five months, describe their codd ponibly THB BODNDIHiO 4^ THK TRVHPKTP. 18 be chosen that would better describe the nat^ire of that fearful scourge that desolated Christendom in the s'&spe of the hordes of Saiaceriii that issued from the desert in the year 629. ' The star fulling from heaven, and •possessing the key of the bottomless pit, finds its appUcution in Mahomet their leader> and author of the famous system of imposture that may well be described as having its origin in the abode of evil spirits: The (tescription of the locusts agrees well with the appearance of the Sarucen horsemen^ while_ the peripd ef five months, during which they Were to torment men, is explained by ' remembering that a day in prophecy represents u literal year— rthus giving 5 times 30 prophetic days, or 150 literal years, an the duration of their power fo oppress the nations they attacked ; and an dpp<^al to history will •how that about the year 779— that is, 150 feam after the beginning of )^ir conquests— the Saracens lost their warlike character, and gave themselves up to the study of literature and the indulgence of luxurious habits, thus ceasing . lo be formidable to those they had opce subdued. (See Gibbon, vol. v., chap. 62.) It is reqjirkable that the ptu-t of the vision that relates to sparing the grus, &c., finds its applicati^ in an order of the Caliph Abonbeker to the Saracens: "liet not th^ vjctory be stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy no pa1m-t;eei) nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fmit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat." The sound of the sixth trumpet now prepares St. John for a pew vision — " And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the lour atagets were ^loosed, which were pre[iared for an hour, and a djiy, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of meu" (chap, ix., 13-15). Then follows a deeei^ptiod of a great army of horsemen, the cliief points in it being that men were killed by ** fire, and smoke, and brimstone " issuing from the months of the horses, and that the power of the horses lay in their tails. Folbwing the course of history, there will be no difficulty in finding the fidfilment of this vision in the inroad of the Turks. They had their origin near the Caspian, and having conquered Bagdad, their leader — the famous Togml— was constitnted temporaf lieutenant of t&e Vicar, of Mahomet, and thus the qnion of the Turkish power with that of the Cafiph, laid the foun- datioaof a forinidable kingdom of religious fanatics in the neigbborhood of the river Eaphmtes. " The four aogels on the great river Euphrates" were therefore 'Hoosed" when the Turks crossed that river on' their march of conquest towards the west, ' which they did in the year 1062; and after nearly 400 ytfars of constant warfare with Phristendom, th»'y rought us to abouti, the. close of the 15th cen. tory. An interval pccufs between the events which fallowed the sounding of the sixth trumpet and the pduring out- of the first vial under the seventh. The 10th chapter is devoted to aa, account of the vision of a mighty aiigel, '"who came down from heaven, clothed withia cloudy add a raiiibow was I upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and' his feet as pillars of fire ; and heHliad in his hand a little book open.-" In the 10th verse, speak*. ing of this book, St. John says : "And I tool( the little book otitof the angel'a ' hw>ci> iuid ate it up ; and it was in my month sweet as hbn^y, and as soon as I - 'had eaten it my belly was bitter. And he sa^q unto me,. Thou must prophesy /;,-\.. . /^ . ,' V y THE Y1AL8 or WBATll. 15 Untinople, the Auigned "\xy the ly, and a month, igarding time in at 30 days— that a prophetic daj, 15 days,^ which, elapsed between, [the y^ar 1453, antintfple. 'The killed by /<6r«, is. Let Its, keep red at the period - success in battle )u have only' to h pistols lerelled ir weapons would issued from the : 9ir tails is easily ed as the bann^T allied bis army, by cutting off his ing point to the ttion on the part and Returning to Bven the rank of ne symbol-^one than he who car- of the 15th cen. the sounding of ier the seventh, a mighty aiigel, a rainbow was feet as pillars of )th verse, speak*, otit of the angel's and as soon as I^ lU must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." The ques- tion for us now to consider is, what great event took place in the history of the worl^ about the close of thelSth, jor beginning of the 16th century, that could fairly be pointed to as the fulfilment of this vision. We reply, without hesitation, « The Reformation." The angel holding an open book in his hand clearly symbolises the Reformers who trerislated the Bible, and distribu- ted it among the people. Up to that period the Word of God was praictically unknown among the great mass of mankind, even within the bonnes, of Chris- tendom ; a,nd we hesitate not to assert that the opening of tl^e BiblV-that is, its translation and dissemination among the people — has produced the greatest and most lasting revolution that we read of in the history of our race. Illie eleventh chapter is devoted to'the Jfescriptiow' of fhe " two witnesses" who were to prophesy for a thousand two hundred and three score- days clothed in sackcloth. We~showed yon in the couite of our lectures that the two witnesses were two lines of confessors of the truth — one in Ae east and one in the west-^who dissented from the errors of the Church of Rome throughout the/whole period of her .snpreniacy. The thousand tw^ hundred and three score days aire prophetit; days,and indicate literal years, that is^ from a. d. 632, /When Justinian acknowledged the Pope as head of the Church, to a. d. 1792, ' the date of the French Revolution, during which the Papal pow^^lreceived a fatal blow that it h^ never recovered, and which has been succeeded by other assaults that have already brought it to the very verge of ruin. The twelfth chapter, under the figure of a woman pnrsuesd into the wilderness by a dragon, repnesenia the Church of Christ during the period of Papal persecu- tion; and you will obs^rve,in the;^th veise, that the same period_i|| marked for her trials as foa that of the' two, witnesses—" And thft |^man fled into the wilderness, wherkshe hath a [ilace prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days;" that is, during the 1260 'years of Papal supremacy, Thb thirteenth chapter describes the Papacy un- der the form of a beastjimh^ven heads and ten horns, the 5th verse Tim^g the duristion of his power to forty-two months, that is, 1260 prophetic days, or literal years, which agrees with the periods allotted to the two witnesses and the church- in the wilderness. . We now pass on to the pouriiig put of the vials under' the seventh seal.— The fir^t vial is pour^ put (chap. xvi. 2) — " And there fell a noisome and ■ grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image." . Following the order of historical events, we find an ample fulfilment of this, part of the vision in the horrors of the French BeylohiUon at thei close of the last century. France may well be said to have* / \ (^ V J ■ 1.'. i ,1 ' 16 . THK VOIOK OF PIIOPIIKOY. " worshipped the beast," seeing that to that country, in the time of Pepin and Charlemagne, the Papacy t)wed the foundation of. its temporal power, while the King of France has long been styled by the Pope himself, «« The eldest son of the Church.'' Yhe scenes of bloodshed that were enacted in that unfortunate country, during the '« Reign of Terror," afford a striking ex- planation of the " noisome and grievous sore" that fell on those who had " the mark of the beast.'! We now come to the pouring Out of the second vial, chap. xvi. 3— "And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man, and wery living soul died in the sea." War aqd blgodshed are clearly denoted by this vision, and it is evident that a series of Woody naval engagements would answer best to the symbols employed. You will remember that it was on the sea that France sustained such signal revenes during the period when^ she wiis most successful by land. From 1793 to 1816, niese naval battles folloMfcd each other in rapid succession in different parts of the globe, sc that it has been welll|ald that the whole history of the world does not present such a4>icture of ndval war, destruction and bloodshed. The effect of the third. viaMsi thus d^cribed in verses 4-6 : " And the third angel poured out his vjal upon 'the riv^ and fountains of waters, and they became blQod. And t^eard fJie angel ofXhe waters say^ Thou art righteous, Lord, which ait, and ^t^ and shalt ,be^ because thou bast judged thus ; for they have shed the blood of saints and prof^ets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy." There are tiro thingtfwe might easily infer from this description, by applying the same principles of intet^ietation that have been eiftployed in the case of the preceding vials: the first is, that war and blootkhcd are indicated in a land remarkable for its lakes aad river* ; and the second, that the land in question had been the scene of peiaecntion directed against the people of God. You will find that Italy answen to both these conditions. No country could so appropriately be described aa a land of " rivers and fountains" as Northern Italy, abounding, as it does, witb springs, and fountains, and streams; while, during the worst period of^pal tyranny, the valleys of Piedmont flowed with the, blood of God.^t saiMS.— . This very country, by the just judgment of God, was made the jKiene off wat and bloodshed during the troubled period that succeeded the French Hevo- lution; and, speaking of the- valleys of Piedmont,^^ able commentator , remarks: "In the times of Papal persecution, these v«lleys had been to flow with the blood of the saints, and it seemed at least to be a righi retribution that these desolations of ^ar, these conflagrations, and these soe of carnage should occnr in that very Iw^d, ai)d that the very fountain! «nl P ' 1 '■' 'I'-'... stre frie bati ?■ ' 1 ^ SCOI ofl .-■•■■ T and vial Ron the 179 ner. upo lonj had afte pUli oft Vat four was prei Hal clotl terr dec! reso nun bom E sym real sent f3 seer judg livin y mefi • ".i^- TH> riALS or WBATH. 17 t M time of Pepin srapoml power, himaelf, "The irere enacted in ■d a striking ex* thooe who had . xiri. 3-"And me as the blood r aqd blgodshed eries of bloody yed. Yoo will I signal revenes a 1793 to 1816, Afferent parts of ly of the world bloodshed. « And the third raters, and they n art righteous, St judged thus ; iast giveti them ire might easily, f intet^retation the first is, that kH aad riven ; of persecution uiswers to both ribed as a land i it does, with period of ^pal God's I e jKene oft war » French Baro- d commentator bad been mf **' ^ be a right md these soei f fountains an^ streams, which had before been tu^edinto blood by the slaughter of the friends of the Saviour, should now be reddened with the blood of men slain in batUe." ' ■ ■ The pouring out of the fourth vial upon the sun (ver. 8), followed by the scorching of men with heat, may well be said to point to the desolating wars of Europe that immediately succeeded the invasion of Northern Italy. The pouring out of the fifth vial is followed by a vision that finds a clear and remarkable ful^Iment (verse 10)—" And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues for pain." The seat of the beast we understand to be Rome, the centre of the Papal power ; and you are aware that one result of the French Revolution was the attack and capture of that city in the year 1799, by a French army under General Berthier. The Pope was taken priso- ner, and died soon ^fter in consequence of the cruelties and indignities heaped upon him by his enemies. Alison, in his " History of Europe," says : *' But long before the Pope had snnk under the persecution of his oppressors, Rome ' had experiAiced the bitter fruits of republican fraternization. Immediately after the entry of the French troops commenced the regular and systematic pillage of the city. Not only the churches and the convents, but (he palaces of the cardinals and of the nobility, wiere laid waste. • • • • • The Vatican was stripped to its naked wall* *- • • * • A coiitribution of four milliona in money, two millions in provisions, and three thousand horses, was imposed on a city already exhausted by the enormous exactions it previously undergone. Under the direction of the infamous con Haller, the domestic library, museum, furniture, jewels, and even^e private clothes ofthc Pope were sold. ♦ • • « • At the same^time, the'^tfinple territorial possessions of the church and the monasteries «^ confiscatet^'and declated national property j a measure which, by drying up at once the whole resources of the affluent classes, precipitated into" the extreme of misery 'the numerous' poor who were inaintained bv^eir expenditure, or fed by their bonnty." - Enough has, I think, been sai^^ prove to every unprejudiced inind that tha symbols employed under the fifth vial, were not any stronger than the terrible reality. Rome was red^ra to the lowest stage of adversity by the judgments sent upon her at t^ period to which we refer; but, in the language of the seer, her peopler «« repented not q( their'd^eds." A final and more terrible judgment Jbai yet to come upon her, and the times in which wJ enraelvea an living seem to affoid ample ground for ber8ed people from all quarters of the globe, in order that they might again possess the land promised as an everlasting inheriUtnco to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. IUuk impossible to apply these words to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon ; they plainly refer not to their being held as captives in one particular country, but as being scattered through all lauds, as they have been for many centuries and still continue to be at the present day. Ijet me now refer you to a passage in the.;{6th chapter^of Ezekiel, whieh^- points most clearly to the general dispersion of the Jews : " And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries : ac- cording to Uieir way, and according to their doings, I judged them.'* No one will for a moment dispute the fact that God has literally accomplished what He here' declares. It is no merely figurative punishment that is meant, but a IiferaJ dispersion among the nations, as a consequence of .sin. Now, mark the 24th verse of the same chapter—" For I will take you from^anlong tK€ heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring yon into your oiito f li- ! -■! i I TM TOIOB or rROPHBCT. %^ '^m land." 8ee-«ta» •«n« 28—" And ye •h»ll dweU .in ^httWA th« T giW to yoar father* ; «(# 7* «h»ll be my people, and I will be your God," Now, we nphold that if wo are to Undontand one part of the chapter aa literal, when it refers to the dispemion, we are bound by every fair rule of criticiira to accept that part'also aa literal which refen to 'their rentoration God thrtatena '» i diaperae them through all nationa-He haa fulfilled that threat to the '«»*«''-^>»i - He aiNo promi|MiH to collect them again out of. the countricH where ^^^'J^mV^ been driven, and restore them to,th«ir own lartd. We aro, lhororore,(*Kig ^*l lo look for the strictly literal fulfilment of the promise. ^ ^^^ W "Wjf^ Having thus, aa wo believe, established the literal restoration alWIj^ws to ;, Palestine aa it revealed truth, we shall noyv endeavor to pWVc, from 6cripturoy • that they will be attacked there by a confederacy of anti-christiun powers, and that when their enemies scfcm to be on the very point of triumphmg, the Lord Jesus Christ hiijiself will suddenly ap|)ear, and tupi the tide of battle in their favor, utterly destroy their, enemies, and iniiugurate the period «f millennial blessedness upon earth. In the 14th chapter of the Book of 2^chariah we find the. following rcniarkable prophecy: " Behold the day of the Lord cometh, • imd thy spoil shall bo divided in the midst of thee. For' I will gather all ^ nations against ,t;d|iiii«aleiq to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the' houses rifled, aiWlhe womei* ravished ; and half the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut oflf from the city.— Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against thbso nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall sUnd in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east." Then, farther on, inthel2th verae,we,read-"And thou shalt be the plague wherewiththe Lord will smite all the peopje that have fought against Jerusalem : their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their Teet, "and their eyesshall. con- sume away in their boles^andtheirtongue shall consume away in theirniouth." Her* you have it clearly proved that. ■ '"""flrftePl;^!*^^"^ the Second Advent, there will be ^ M|#ring together of th'fl ^||j^fe earth to 4h£Wattle^^ the great day of^ L5rd God AlmighW|^pj||f after h^N|lieen re- iQst^ in Paleatine, wijl be attacked, al^B&os^ftated, when, suddenly, the combatants will stand aghast 'At the loud shrill blast of the Archangel's . '- trumpet. Christ himself will appear in great glojf in the. clouds of heaven, and utteriy de'stroy the enemies of His people. " j} Behold He cometh with clouds^ and evecy eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him, and fl kii^t^B of the earth shall wail because of him." ' IfjiifaMr reaid carefully the 19th and^2qth chapters of the Bodk of Reve- lation, you will see' that this fearful contest is described as taking place imme- Christ fii '- tnit\ thatyoui may hav thousanc Son of G His foes words cfl interests the wrat only to I coming < Youki S-- k I " Now, w« r»l, when it im tu accept thrtatena to the letter, ere thej ofore, ( 8 to m'-Scriptunv • powera, and nji;, the Lord attle in their if "Millennial Bchariah we Lord Cometh, ' II gather all rken, and the' go forth into m the city.— aa when He lay upon the , farther on, therewith' the I : their flesh jresahall.con- iheir niouth." cond Advent, 4hcf)t4ttleofik len, auddenly, 6 t^chaDj^el's . is of heaven, ~ I cometh with »d Him, and lodk of Reve- g place imme- ^ diataly before the millennia peHdtf. St. John naea a R|7ntfic«nt ridon of a warrior mounted on a white home, ani clothed in a Tcatule dipfied in bl<)od. We ilfraot jeft to conjecture who thia warrior Ja, foj Uia name i« given— "The Word oVVod;' that ia, ( hriat. (S«e St. Johna Qoapel, chap. ..) jH* ia dtacribcd aa tdtterly defoaling^Hia euemiefl, «ho are caat into a lake of Ire, bnniing wilh brimstnno. Ijjgllt nay be, brethren, that thia terrible advent will occur in our own dayi." ' Tf^o oot wiah to dogmatiae. but I have read with care, and with the roott ih- tense intereat, dtflerent opinions upon the interpret«tion of tboae propbeoiaa thai point to the perioa'of the Second Ad«ent, and I ahall state aome of theaa opioiona in the evening. Meanwhile, I may ufely aay that iUn> ia at lea«U a possibility of the event occurring within the experience of the pE«aent gene- ration. There ia, therefore, in thia very doctrine of'lHe'SBcondJtavent, • atrong motive for our endeavttmigVpreparB, Ji/on]j ourselvw, but thoM near and dear to ua by the ti^ of blood and affection, for meeting our God. There ia an awfulnesa and aolemnity in the thought that we muat die, and eveh with all the anpport'that the GvapeF afford* by it^ promiaes of • happy immortility beyond the grave, we ahrink with iuatinctive dread from Ae icy toneh of Death, the King of Terrora. But it is even ^^11 morejtartlisig to reflect that while we are in full health and strength of body aiid mind—while. we are acUvely engaged in the busiueaa of daily life— while nature weara her nsual appearance, and the sun ia shining brightly in the finaabient, we awy ■oddenly hear the sound of the trumpet, and be aurrounded with all the mi||e» ties^f the Advent oF Christ.'" How are you prepared, dear friends, for that awful scene? Let conscienc^ speak. Were the shrill trumpet peal to i«ir aIon|f the firmament today, do you feel prepared for the summbns.? Wo Phrist find you in the ranks of His friends ^r of His foes ? • Ina th»e is a rtrong motive feryou who are parents, to labor e that your children may be early Uught to know the Lord, you yoursfel^^ may have passed away from time to eternity; when, aniidst'the rushings of tw thousand squadrons of mighty angela.'and the crash of dissolving elements, the Son of God will appear in power and in might, to take terrible veqgeance on His foes; bpt th* children whom you love with a depth and intensity t^at no words can ezpresM, may be dwelling upon earth ; and should yoff neglect* tha interests of their immortal souls now, t|jey may then be without « refuge from the wrath of their Judglp. Oh ! may God grant you all grace to labor not on^r to prepare yourselves, but alao all near and dear to you, for the lecond coming of our Redeemer. ^ . ;- Yon know that there ia but one way o( preparation— ".Believe on ^ac^rd Wl / ■•n '-■I't ■ • ■ - ,^ . •.■ -X: ■W tr a- *> ? :x ^ .^ i*{ » '^■m- d^i 'V. *V:^ §» V ■ v:% tut VOIOB 0» PROFHiqT. ^^ Jesu, Cloirt. and thou-halt be sa^^d." If you poaacsa that pnscuHM ferth, you will be euabled t« «t«nt sin^rely of all your past sins, and also to for . Bake them, for there can be no genuine repentance of sin if that «n « after^ >^ard8 Wlfoliyperseveref in. Come to Christ aa you are. It ««tters>°ot hpwdeepandhowmanymaybethestaLnsofguiUuponyoursouL Hisblood can cleanse from oK sin-there is no limit to its cleansing any more than to iti. saving power. But remember, that now is your day of grace-««w the day of your merciful vWtation. To^ay, Christ addresses you m the langui^e of earnest entreaty; He beseeches you to flee from the wrathto come, for He is not wdling that anjtshould perish, but that all should come^nto Hun and " haVl'ewrlastingUfe. OhI youwhoare still impenitent,, let f£e pre*. upon you'the brief but solemn question, "Why will you die?" Chnst has shed , His precbns blood to open up a way bywhich you l^ay escape eternal death, and lay hold of eternal life. He encourages you to come to Hmi by the bles- sed promise, " Him tiiat comeUi unto me, I will in n^o wise cast out Then, • by dUhe solemnities of His Second Advent-by the fearful and uneartWy somid of the last trumpet, that will one day fall upon your eara-by all the hopes you cherish of attaining the joys of heaven, and avoidmg the m«er,es of hell-by the very uncertainty that hangp laround, not only Uie day of your death, but also Uie coming of our Lord, I beseech you to accept tiie «avaUon whichjs freely offered to you in the Gospel, by fleeing to the Cross of Chnst as your only refuge. V,V.v , .'tj >o '"Vl ' \ *■, ■* '^ f- ^ «l-«»i^„.«J«»»l. TTt r. THE VOICE OF PROPHECY. S»rt IL m UNFULFILLED PROPHECY: "He which teatifietiithew things, Baith: Surely I oomequicklji. Amen. ETen ■0 come, Lord Jeraa.— RBTXiiATiOKi^ diap. xziL 20. We reviewed in the morning some of the things that are here stated as being testified by Christ. We showed you that a series of events, deeply affecting the history of the Christian Church, had been ^)retold in symbolical language by the Evangelist, and that the course' of these events extended from the EM^^pd at which he wrote in the first century of the Christian era, to the times'in which we o|Mile||yes live. We then went on to consider sqme of the leading future events that are disclosed in the Book of Revelation, stating that these embraced the restoration of the Jews to Palestin^the circum9tances relating to the second advent of Christ— the first resurrection, or resurrection of the saints-'-the millennium period of a t]^(msand years — the final struggle of Satan — and the general winding up of th^mairs of the world at the day of judgment. ' The first of these topics, vis. : the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, we havg^already briefly discussed, and we now go on to state some of the leading points connected with the Second Advent of our Saviour. The first object that demands our inquiry, is the period indicated in Holy Scripture, at which the ^ advent will take place. Now, there are several prophecies that bear upon this, question. We shall select the one that we have most recently considered in our weekly lectures, that contained in the last chapter of the Book of Daniel, and espjeeaod in the following words : " And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate aetnpy . there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. BleesSd is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." ** Butj^o thou thy way till the end be, for thou ahalt rest and stand in thy lot in the end of the days." Now you will remember that, in the 7th chq)ter of %' TBE VOICE OF PROPHEOT. I ! *?' bi« prope cies, Daniel gives an accouht-ofwb* beasts that rose out of the sja, representing ,88 we showed in detail in the course of our lectures, the four gi-eat empires of the Chaldeans, the Medes and Persians, the Greeks and the Homans. I shall quote the description given of the last, as it is to it we are now referring,|»r8e 7, " And behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong ezceedi^ly; and it had great iron teeth, it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it ; and it was diverse from all th^ beasts that were before it, and it hbd ten horns. I considered the homs^ and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots ; and, behold, in this horn wrfre eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth, speaking great thingd.'' The 23rd, 24th and 25th verses give an explanation of this figure, statinjghat a ^gdom was meant which should devour the whole earth, and th0tiqP|[pf this kingdom ten others should arise, and after that one more, whpfi^' cl^faac- teris fully given. The words are as follows: "And the ten hoyri^ j^nt o* ~ this kmgdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall rise after them ; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change tirfes and laws ; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end." The description of the original kingdom agrees exactly with the character of the Ro^n Empire, whose career of universal conquest is well repre- sented by the <^Sti^ping," "devouring" and "breaking in pieces," ascribed to the beast ; the ten horns, representing 'ten kingdoms, point 40 the ten nations into which that empire was divided on its breaking up ; while the litd horn, if we consider what is attributed to it in the viiiion, is evidently intended to point to the Papacy, which has indeed " spoken agunst the Most High," in putting the decrees of &llible men in the place of the onlcles of Ood— and has " worn out the saints of the Most High," by the many bloody persecutions that stain the pages of her history. Observe, also, that the peri id assigned by the prophet for the duration of this anti-christian power—* time, tiines, and the dividing of time, that is, one yea*, two years and half a yea^, or thtee years and a half, equal to 1280 prophetic days, or literal years— agrew «lMtly with the period laid down for its existence in the Book of Revelation. We therefore conclude, that when the angel speaks in the last chapter of the "-■:'' setting ap of the "abomination that maketh desolate^" be refers to tht ris* of th« Papal Apostacy, and whfBn he saji that the man will be blessed who TH> MILLKNNIUlt. 25 i from all th^ ■ees the end of 1335 prophetic days, or literal yeare, from that period, and that Daniel himself should rest until the end of the days, and then "stand in his lot," we conclude that he points to a time when Daniel shall rise again from the g»ve, and enter into the enjoyment of the blessedness of the period referred to in the Book of Revelation as the thousand years during which Christ will reign with His saints upon the regenerated earth. The next point for our consideration, is the dale at which the Papal supre macy may fairly b* said to have commenced. You will at once see that thi» 13 a pomt of the most vital importance, for if it be correctly settled, we have only to add the 1 335 years of the prophecy to the date in question, an J we will amve at the very period at or near which the present dispensation will be closed, and the Advent of Christ will take place. We shall now proceed to state three differ^t periods that have been assigned a3 the true date of the establishment of the Papal power, and show the result in each case in- so far as the date of the Advent is concerned. The first period is the year of our Lord, 532, when the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged as head of the church by the Emperor Justinian. This occurred inder John H., reckoned as the 65th Bishop of Rome. The circumstances that led to this were as follows :— The monks of Constantinople, differing from Justinian in an article of faith, appUed to the Bishop of Rome to decide the case in their favor. Justinian also referred his view of the question to the Bishop, sending him at the same time a very valuable present, and acknowledging him as having a right to give a final decision. Now, if We admit that this is, iri reaUty, . the date of the beginning of the PapaVpower, we have only to add the 1 335 years of the prophecy to it, and we arrive at the period indicated as the close of the present dispensation-lSeS added to 532, make 1867; that is, according to" this view, in seven years from the present time we may look fo?the Second Advent of Christ ^"1 need not say that some of the most celebrated atadents of prophecy are strongly inclined to admit this period. Mr. Irvine thus writes : •♦ And at the end of the 1335 days, or in the year 1867, which is 42 yean from the time I now write, the period of blessedness shaU have begun, and the re surrection of the righteous, whatever that be, shall have taken place." This date of the rise of the Papacy is held by Elliot, Newton and Meade; and the well-known Dr. Cumming, in giving his preference to the same date, seems strongly inclined to believe that the milleniual period will commence at the period.indicated by Mr. Irvine, ia the foregoing extract. In his " Qreat Tri- bnl^tion," page 21, second series (New York Edition), he ?ay8 :« I hav» given these extrmcts firom competent authorities, all coming to one concksion, ' that the seventh thousand year of the world is to be its minennial rest ; sad I h»T« shown you, that if the chronology of Mr. Fines Clintpn be correct, and I •f •% ,'">., 26 THE VOtCB OF I'HOPHKPT. \ . , / ' . ■ ■ J' ■' ' '' • *• " "■ ■ - U» «rfufod « a cowrf, we are, at this very mameat, wi^iineight Jf^^ the dose of the sixth thoiu«uid yeat, and, ther^ore/if-Qnrdat^be righV'J"*^ e«ht years of the commeacement of what all these writers hope is the ererlasting^st, the dawn of heaven, the n^fllennial blessednesa of the people of God:-whenalltear8 8hdlbe dried-when all sorrows shall ^ase-when deathshril die, and when Christ shallslHliebefore His ancientaglol^onsly and this world shaU e^joy thatresi whichhaabeen foretold by prophets,^ ebrated by poets, and anticipated by 8wn^ and declared by an apostle to be.the Sab-^ bath-rest that renuuneth for the people of God." Should this view of the prophecy be a correct one, we may well be 8i«irUed at the nearness of that period that mnst produce so great a change in the .desT tinies of the worlM«« announced in one passage only." first resurrection is either pUinly stateAor frA« -i.- i. -. . Md second, that it is imorob^JtW t . ^'^ '* ""^ ^ fairly implied ; onepassa^. ^^0^7^^^^^^^^^ to doZTdisbeli^aXi^'^^ ^'^^ ?"' ''°°"' °'^*^*^'"'' ^''^ *« ^ ^ become, of the aZl«rfS?T *^* "^ ""'^ »t«t« ■ • , ■• . '^ I...-I*^ TBE VOIOK or PROPBBCY. H(^n/nnn emongtt the dead," not "unto tho r^urroction of the d^" as it 19 rendered in our trufslatioii. We appeal to,|pdtfX^«xpW8ilonorthe apfMtle's can have any definite meamiij^^pir^ supposition that there is but ^^resurrection of the ju8t,^ii(lthe wicked ; but taken in connection jwiih the docfflne ef Iho fiisL "fesurrection laid down in the Book of Revela ti'qn, his meaning is perfectly clear. It is as if he said, " Oh ! that I may be- among that blessed company that will rise first and enjoy with Christ the state of millennial blessednfess-may Ijiot be left to lie in the grave with the wicked after the SMnts have risetTto meet their triumphant Lord !" *^ The next passage to which we desire to direct yoiir attention is that con; ^tained in 1st Thes. iv. 14-17— "For if we be«eveWhat Jesus died, and rose again, even so then also which sleep in Jesua, will God briug with Him, For this we say unto you, by the Word of th^ Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall noftrevent (that is, go before) them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the jtrump of God, and the dead in Chriat aTuM rise first. Then we which are alive, and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Now, keep in view the several points brought out^n these verses. 1st.— There will be many of God's^people ' alive upon the earth at the time of the Advent, and God only knows, dear friends, but some of us may be among the pumber. 2nd.— The dead bodies of the saints shall rise from their graves, and being re-united to their glorified . spirits, whom Christ will bring with Him from those abodes of happiness where . they have been rpsiding since their departure from this world, they will, alonjt with the living saints, be caught up into the air to meet their Lord. Let us dow refer to the 15th chap, of St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians —that magnificent proof of the resurrection that our Churoh directs us to read over the cofiSn of her departed members. You will observe that the AposUe, throughout the whole chapter, is alluding to the resurrection of believers in Christ. The resurrection of the wicked i6 elsewhere proved in Scripture and it forms no part of his object to refer to it in the course of his argument in this chapter. In the 5l8t and 52nd verses he says : " Behold, I show you a mys- tery ; we shall not all sleep, but we shall aUle changed, in a moment, yi the twinkling of an eye, at tho last trump (forthe trumpet shall sound), and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and/W shall be changed j^' that is, the children of God who are alive at the Adyfent of Ohrist, will be suddenly changed both with respect to the body and/tte soul, in such a way as to assimilate them to the sainiB who rjse wjith their glorified bodies, and have them inhabited switht] -^ THE RESITRBECTION OF THE 9AINl4. 31 '•7 their purified souls that Christ will h«„-. u^ r,. ~ '—' ,-mg Scrip,u„ with ScnW ," „rf„r?,^'°;"='"^"'""'' "^ •»■»■ .he period of ,b„ Advenl. ""' ''''° »'•" ">« "li™ at V^ord, not onl, i„ the Book Tf Kevel Ln thTr t"''' "* ''''''' '" «°^'« what language is figurative and whl ? 7u *'P"'' '^y*"«« «» to rosta^ent, where ^^1 ^Zl i ' '"' '" ''^'"'" P'^»« "^ »h« ^ew "owIetu/pauseandCtr:^^^^^^^^ And tanttruths. Youwhoa^TelLrLt"! ^ ■« -olved in these in,por H„d encouragement from the s^:, "^^ t "'k "" '"" '""^'' «••»" '««y occur at a period within the n„«! K.' '''"*" ^°" *'"*» ^^e Advent '-« me, and, aL, evl t t art^Sl^e""^"" of neari, ever, one wh^ ve.7 far distant. The. a«/thelft^ 'tir th ''T^'^' '''^'^'^^ '>e .ure-either that you wil neveTrit J h„t r''' f "" "' ^'''''' ^^ »«^ JuU^dmysteripuschangethatwinXv?^^^^ <-hnst appears, " when this corraptibleshaU h^l . °-^ '*^*« *!•«" ■nortal in^nortality - or, if yoTrst de 1^ ' 'i; '"'""^P*^"«"' «°^ ^^is iuthecjtudsilen'tg^ e. W ut;^!^,! r "*'''" '''"^ *° ^^^ ^ waiting f,r\he resurrection of you 11^^ , '' '" ^''^ ^^^^^ «*•*«, , to you but the «st of a short rme^lh 7 1' °'*''^"'^^ ^" '^P«- •'•^wningof that brightmornin/thrshJ. f ' ^ ''^"^ ^^^''^'^^ '>7 the . We., .ayyoue..:;., be^^^L TX^^^^^^^ Uwth, wlere is thy still,? nlrn 'v*^ ""' '''"'^'iMltipj, "Oh i .mves «ir b™. open atto^ J^f r:*"™ f"™"' »" "-f 4.y ? Seme ».».gre.^a„l,.ai.isahr,ak.MXf.;,wlTa.b'-*"™''^«^''" P«»!ay gmres will be opeaed, .„d lh« 1.!! ' ^^°"*' «>»%niti™i. J..r to «K», „a eartb, ,0 laoald^Iffl It? " '^ "°^ »' ""^ to be laid in ^ ^^ ^^ "^^f "^^tj"^ °" ""»' that the dead .ill raa. Bain .»d ,h„!i ." " °°"»«™« »e aw taagh, _ .healdri^Ugetb.,^ A^'LXTJ^ZT':^'"'^"^''! ■^.ud,.M>...ho,.^j„.jrr::::::^^ V i s ^j t a^ ^^ (^^;^^^St^.;^ ^S^;^^ 32 ^=^ THB VOIOB OP PROPRKOT. here read to you who are parents 1 If you desire that the childran whom you love should start with you from the sleep of death, at the Advent of your Red4emer<~if you wish that you should be re-united in that land where sorroijr ^and parting and tears are forever unknown, then I 'beseech yoii to strive to lead them to Christ as their Saviour now, while they are in the laiHh>f the living and the place pf hope. Oh I remember thiM « as the tree lU^ so it lies"— if they leave this world unforgiven, there is no hb|pe of mercy for them in tjie next — nothing but ^earfut experience of God's fiery indignation through the endless ^ges of etetffity. ^t is with reference to the una^lterable nature of ooriitate at the hour of death, that it is declared in the last cWpt^r of the Book of Revela- tion, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust stillj^ and he which ik »Ey, let him "be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous sti^^dhq that is holy, let him h^olystill." If you die unjustified by the HKo^of Christ, you must remain so throughout eternity— if you go down to the ^vjs, or meet our Lord at His Advent, with your heart impure and unchanged by the opeia. tion of the Holy Spirit, you cannot inherit the kingdom of God j but'if you are righteous at death— that is, clothed with the spotless robe of Christ's righteonaness-'then ^ou%ilI bfl ritrhleoiis, and holy, and happy in the presence of Ood for ever and ever. . ft,*« The next important point for our considera^i'-iei pie purifying process,-, which this world will undergo, in the general conflagration foretold in Scrip- ture. As far as I can judge, the Scriptures appear to indicate that thispnrTfy ing {irocess will take place at the commencement of the millennial period, and . not at its close, and that it is for this object that the saints will be caught up • into the air to meet their Redeemer. The principal support pf tllis doc- trine lies in the words of St. Peter, chap. iii. 2nd Epistle. In verses »-r6, he says, « Knowing this first, that there whall come in the last days scoflbtt, walking after their own lusts, and saying. Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathei^ fell asl^p, all things continue as they were from the b^ ginning of the Creation. F<|»; this they willmgly are ignorant of, that by the word of God, the heavens w^re of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water, perished. But the' heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and per- dition pijJutogQdly men".i-then /n verse 10, " But Uie day of the Lord will come 91 a ihief u the night, iiii the which the heavens shall pass away with a great boiae, and the elements sjiall melt with £afi^t heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, sliiidl be burnt up." ; : \ „.,_. ..;/i..„..:: l_ . :^._.:.. .:.._. ..;„ H«re yoU will observe' thatUie apostle draws a oomparison betwem the THl HURBttNO or THE iAMH. r/. '■' ' ■■[ '■ '31 '^luge in Noah's time, and the burning of the earth'at ih. » a ' , ^ W, ^ tpid th3t th^ J J""* ««rt^at the "day of the Lorf." and «f««^ to. believe the vr^lTT^LT"^ "' "^^ '''^''^ ^''^'^• ^h% in t^e heaven, as I^ h^^JTlt "V'^*^'"'*^ ^^--^ne as .^a.ark.b., that Christ hin»elf mat ^e of tht^^: t" '"*'^"- '» '^ * that they were eatinK and drinkinT "^^ >llaBtratioD, stating i he day tiit Noah entfr^ n^tt f ra^JI' "' "'^« '" •-™««' -»•' -e.ery«..LeofeSL,:::2.^i\nlr'^ .-^circumstances of the delu-e and tHo,« „«^ . '^ "*' •***««« *he wer« scoffers in Noah's .v'ee^^r^^^^^^ *'' conflagration. The« ^■ . class in the times in which we J^e? ^ T "'** """*'*"''^'' ^^^''^ «««^ prdoT&God'.wo^if th'l^Tsr/ ""\ of indulgence of thlfr si^ Jj^l" r™^ ** *»•«':•• «-» -»»•«« o. the waseominandedtoexhor^e^irenrj"""!?^^ ^- ''^ ing; and assuredly we have L^^^loT^^lT" *"' *■•' '*- ''"^'* of Holy Scripture and in th*e si^aff ^r "'^'^ *" "" '"'*'' '" »«>« Ws instance, theWe,t:ft:CwlC^^^^^ "-' ^'^H ^or powe«. We see Turkey growing weaker TT T ^*"°«**° «»dPapal , that he. empire » ^pi^U^^ITo^^ ,^^^^^^ ^-^ -u«d exist as a separate power A„rf *i,- ^' • ^^® "™* «o«° cease to wiiihaveth::;:::;:Li^^^;~™^<>'^/ : ancient people, the Jews, to dwrif the f ?*"'^' *' """ '**"" °^ G^*'" inheritance^toAbrahamXa^dJai: W"!^ .8 an un.ven«t impr^jssion on men's mi^ds that ita ^1 ^^PWJ, there crushed. Thes«cceIsofGaribaldi.Xlt^^ .I'T'^'P"^*''^"'^^ of Italy-th^t landsolongdowlltr t;^^^^^^ .blow to the Papacy, that it is highly ilrobabtr P"™"^^^* ^^^ * we believe that prophecy points to IT" ^ t "*" ^^*' '^*'°™'- ^ow, that will immediate!; pi:;:l*:j^^„t^^^^^^ — t warmngthatthedayofti^eLordist ttt^t?;,^^^^^^ St. Peter, with wference to Uie burLXfrtT^^. expressions used by '' The elements shall melt with fe^jl^t *"^/~ ''^^''^ ■"'* P«fi>K t Y a« therein shall beC[3* / e1 "'*' '*^' '"'^ "'^ «"« --'^ f* Scripture that a literal conCU JL m'^rtw?^ "'* '''^•'P~°^ 34 tttB YOtOB 01* PROPnROT. e •f ■» ■ globe^ as it waa for Him to open the fcuntains of the groat deep in Noah's ' time, and drown the world in a deiuge-of water.- With these facfa befocp us, it appears to me to be altogether absard to suppcse St. Peter to allude tn any thing but a literal b«mitfg;of the iearthv-for from the way in which lie drawH the.p8rallel,we are fbrcj^rfb the conclusion that the flood of water'and the flood of fire are either 6(rfi('|jtfral, or WA figurative; we know that the dolu"© literally came upon the earth, and we therefore condiido that the conflagra- tion referred to wlU become n strict and literal fact. The object of this visitation appeardtoVto propare^thf* earth for -being the dwelling-place of Chi ist and His saints. . We know that the ground was cnrsed -on account of Adam's sin-rthe curse will then be removed, and just^ia surely aa the present state of the world is adapted to our wants in the mortal and imperfect ^te in which' we now exist, so surely will the " new heaven and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness," bo fully fitted for that state of perfect happiness, and freedom from pain and sorrow, that t^e redeemed will - enjoy in millennial blessedness. ' , . We now come to speak of', that gorgeous description of the happinouss of the s^ti that enriches the Book of Revelation. We stay not to comment npon the "street of pure gold as it were transparent glass"— the crystal river or the pearly gates of that beautiful city— the new Jerusalem— that St. John 8a# descending from heaven like a bride adorned for her husband ; we will not even dwell upon that magnificgnt anthem of heavenly praise that is raised by the voices of ten thousaild tinjes ten thousand redeemed saints, and the sonnd of which, though sweet as that of many waters, is yet Ipuder than the roaring thunder. We would rather seek to fix your thoughts upon the single description—" And Oq$I shall Wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death/neither (Borrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things iire passed away." " There shall be no more doath."— Take comfort, you who have stood by the 'de«th-bed of thos^earer to yon than life, and have hung over the wasted form of thfr departing^' in an agony of grief and sorrow that almost rent your hefirt in twain— there are no death-beds in the nullennial state— there is no disease there— there are -no parting scenes there, but friends who die in Christ shall be nnited in glory, and enjoy a purer communion than that afforded in this vale of tears — i communion as perfect in its happiness as it will be endless in its duration. The wife and the husband— the brother and the sister -^the parent and the child — if they have 'died in Christ, shall be re-united in tliat luq>p7 tend never again to part. r^WF. • V' ,H - $9 " A few bLort years of evil past, - ' ' . We reach that happy shore, " - • '^ - '• ^•'ero death-divided friends aUait , Shall meet t6 part no more?' ' . ' There shall be neither '' sorrow " nor " crvinV/J^^' ted in ■ ,-.- ■ * ■ -■■-• V s i > • : '•'!-«?e ■- \ ■ "''*' i .'■r "" ■ ,;.[ ■ - 1 — ■ '»■..■ . ,: .:i ,.-"''■•■ .', :';■ • — 'T^ • . .';■ ■ ■■9l ] r^ ' x.> , 8 * • • 1 • ■ V • " . }y *• ' , « t ' : • • * ■■ >' '' • 1 -^ 6. t .S' * ? . > " ^ ' ' f1 „ • 1 i * <. •/ ■ f ." / |^ ■* t, < fV ' « #• J- m ;- ; V . -^ ■ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "■ ^-^ -"■"'.> ■ 1 ^ ^t. ; ' ^ ■ ! :,|,;-.'."- i ^^^^^- • " it f • -:'■-'-- -m- \ / i '-^ ' ' ^>^-: ':-■ ■ .<'; * V ■> ■ ' .. \ "iv" .■^iiWi^*. - " ' ^_: ■ - ■' '•'' ■I ' ' ■ - . . /- > , . ■ # k. , ' « ..^^^ . . ,.:. .-^-: . , ■ -■-;- ■ ■ ■JiJ-T^" . , ' r<»**« . ■- ' • - ■ 9 4N^flllil k 1 P